Nationals WA welcome first Foreign Ownership Register report

For more information, contact Shane Love (Member for Moore ).

Member for Moore Shane Love MLA has welcomed the recent release of the Federal Government’s first report from the Agriculture Land Register.

The Agriculture Land Register was established by the Federal Government in July 2015 and requires persons with an interest in agricultural land to register their interest, regardless of the value of the land, through the Australian Taxation Office.

The purpose of the register is to accurately track how much Australian land is owned by foreign interests, and was driven by The Nationals as an important tool in increasing scrutiny and transparency of investment into Australian agriculture.

Mr Love said that while investment partnerships between foreign investors and Australian land owners should be encouraged, a strong focus remained on ensuring the Federal Government was aware of how much agricultural land is foreign owned.

“Foreign investment has been an important foundation of Australia’s agriculture industry and it will remain necessary to ensuring a viable agricultural sector into the future,” Mr Love said.

“The first report found that foreign investors hold just 13.6 per cent of all Australian agricultural land, most of which is owned by investors from the United Kingdom.

“This provides a clearer picture of investment in Australian agriculture and will help to clear up some of the myths around the level of foreign ownership in the sector.”

Western Australia had a lower rate of foreign ownership than the national average, with 10.9 per cent of agricultural land in foreign hands.

In 2013, The Nationals WA passed a motion at the Party’s Annual State Conference supporting the establishment of a process to monitor foreign farms and pastoral ownership in Australia, a policy which was adopted by the Federal Party.

Mr Love said The Nationals WA had recognised the importance of securing inward investment by delivering its “game changing” WA Open for Business policy earlier this year.

“The $20 million WA Open for Business strategy is aimed at attracting investment into WA’s agrifood sector and supports the sector as a whole by improving the alignment of the various agencies working to promote WA agribusiness,” Mr Love said.

WA Open for Business was a key election commitment by The Nationals WA and is part of the $300 million Royalties for Regions-funded Seizing the Opportunity in Agriculture initiative.

Find the Federal Government’s first report from the Agricultural Land Register here: http://firb.gov.au/